Spring-hinge.



PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

B. BOMMER.

SPRING HINGE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1 J a fl w F SE LWG PATENTED JULY 3 E. BOMMER.

SPRING HINGE.

APPLIUATION'IILED JULY 1, 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

FEMIL BOMMER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPRING-HINGE.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed July 1,1905. Serial No. 267,872.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL BOMMER, a citizen of the United States,residing in New York, in the borough of Brooklyn and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to spring-hinges, and more especially tospring-hinges of thatclass which are attached to the lower corners ofthe doors and operated in connection with a stationary socket-plateattached to the floor vertically below the hinge and asocket at theupper corner of the door with a connectingpivot in the door-casing.

The invention aims to provide a'hinge of this type embodying improvedmeans for tensioning and limiting the movement of the spring.

To this end the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of adoor and doorcasing with my improved spring-hinge applied to the lowerand upper corners of the door and to the adjacent portions of the floorand doorcasing, parts being broken off and other parts in section, so asto show the spring-hinge in the lower corner of the door and the pivotalconnection with the socket in the door-frame at the upper corner of thedoor. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section through the spring-hinge atthe lower corner of the door, drawn on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a topview of the hinge shown in Fig. 2, shown as detached from the door.Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are horizontal sections, respectively, on lines 4 4, 55, and 6 6, Fig. 2; and Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are details of the parts ofthe ratchetplate by which the tension-collar is locked in position afterthe coil-spring is set to the proper tension.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thedifferent figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, D represents a door, and D the casing of thesame. The lower rear corner of the door is provided with a recess ofsuflicient size to insert into the same a spring-hinge corres onding tothe size and weight of the door. elow the springhinge and axially inline therewith is arranged a socket plate B, which is provided withwings I), that are attached by fasteningscrews b permanently to thefloor, said socket-plate being provided with a tapering socket-hole b ofsquare cross-section for receiving the lower correspondingly tapered andsquared end 6 of a cast-metal frame F,

which is open at both sides and connected at its upper and lower ends,the connecting portions f f being provided with central openings for apintle P, by which the connection of the fixed frame F with theinclosing frame or casing G of the spring-hinge is made. The ends of thepintle P are preferably upset after the parts are assembled, so as tohold them firmly together. The side walls of the stationary frame F aremade arcuate in horizontal section, as shown clearly in Figs. 4, 5, and6, the casing G being made with a curved outer wall adjacent to the sidewall of the frame F and with a straight opposite wall, as shown also inFigs. 4, 5, and 6. The side walls of the casing G of the frame F areconnected at the upper and lower ends, the ends being provided with anopening for seating the cylindrical end portion of the frame F in thelower part of the casing G and with an opening in the upper part forpermitting the passage of the pintle P through the same. The casing G isfurther provided with a segmental extension g at the upper end in linewith its outer curved side wall and with an extension g at the lowerend, which is located at right angles to the side walls of the casing,said extensions g g being provided with tapering holes for thefastening-screws 9 by which the casing is attached to the lower rearcorner of the door, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

In the interior of the tension-frame F is arranged a coil-spring S ofsufficient power so as to move the door from the open to the closedposition. The'lower end of the coilspring S is bent inwardly, ascustomary in spring-hinges, the inwardly-bent end being inserted in arecess of the lower spring-holder H. The upper end of the coil-spring Sis also provided with an inwardly-bent end which enters into a recess inthe upper spring-holder H, said spring-holder being made in one piecewith a tension-collar H which is provided with radial holes forinserting a lever pin by which the coil-spring is set to tension. Theupper end of the tension-collar H is provided with ratchet-teeth 1",which, as shown in Fig. 9, engage teeth 7 and r at the under side of aratchet-plate R, which is provided with diametrically opposite lugs rand T of which one is shorter than the other, the shorter lug engagingthe stationary frame F and the longer lug engaging the curved side wallof the casing G, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. The lower spring-holder His provided with diametrically opposite lugs h if, which in like mannerrespectively engage the opposite edges of the frame F and of the curvedside wall of the casing G, as shown in Fig. 6. The spring-hinge afterbeing placed in position is inclosed bya sheet-metal shell I which isattached to the curved-side wall of the casing G by fastening-screws 'iand to the opposite sides of the door by means of fasteningscrews 4..The inclosing shell I, of sheet metal, protects the hinge against theentrance of dust and other obstructive matters. The

inclosing shell I is provided at the upper and ings of the hinge, so asto properly lubricate the sameand permit thereby the easy and 4noiseless moving of the spring-hinge in openn The upper end of the dooris heldin position ing or closing the door.

' 1 by the pivot-pin P, which is slidably connected to a cast-metalsocket P provided with a plate P, that is cast integrally there with,said plate being attached to the doorcasing opposite the upper rearcorner of the door. The pivot-pin Pis axially in line with the pintle ofthe spring-hinge at the lower rear corner of the door. The socket P isprovided with a slot p, through which passes a spring-rod P, that isrigidly attached at one end to a lug on the plate P while at the otherend it loosely engages a hole in the pivot-pin P. I An aperture 0" inthe plate P vertically below the pivoted spring-rod P permits theinsertion of the end of a screwdriver, nail-set, or pin, so that thepivot-pin I P can be sufiiciently raised when the door is to be takendown and its lower end withdrawn from the socket P that is inserted inthe top of the door. When the door is to be replaced in position, thepivot-pin P is pushed back flush with the face of the socketplate P, therecoil of the spring P causing the pivot-pin P 'to enter the socket P assoon as it comes in line therewith. The socket P has a plate castintegrally therewith and is attached by screws to the top of the dooraxially in line with the pintle of the spring-hinge, as shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of the improved springhinge is as follows: Supposing thedoor to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, when the same is pushedoutwardlyviz., toward the observer--the arcuate rear portion orwall ofthe casing G will describe an arc in the opposite direction, carryingwith it the lug 1, against which it abuts, as shown in Fig. 4, andconsequently the upper spring-holder H, which in partially rotating uponthe pintle, sets the spring S to tension, the frame F remainingstationary. The lower springholder H- also remains stationary as thearcuate portion of the casing G is moved away from the longer lug 71/ Itis obvious that as soon as said arcuate portion forces the lug r intocontact with the inner wall of the stationary frame and the lug 1" intocontact with the outer wall thereof the tensioning of the s ring willcease andthe movement of the d dor will be limited. As soon as the dooris released it returns, through the action of the spring, to its closedposition. When the door is opened in 'a direction opposite to that justdescribedviz., when pushed backwardly from the position shown in Fig.1the lower spring-holder H will be partially rotated in the stationaryframe F by the arcuate rear wall of the casing G, which, as will be seenfrom Fig. 6, will impinge upon the lug W, and thereby partially rotatesaid holder in a direction opposite to that in which the upper holder ismoved during the movement first described and set the spring to tension.This movement continues until the long lug k strikes the rear wall ofthe stationary frame and the short lug it strikes the front wall of thesame, when the tensioning of the spring ceases and the movement of thedoor is limited in the manner previously explained. It is manifest thatwhen the door is released it will swing back to its initial positionunder the influence of the tensioned spring.

During the movements described the door is efliciently pivoted at itsupper edge by the pivot-pin P, as will be understood.

It is obvious that the spring-hinge above described can be applied tothe upper rear corner of the door and the socket-plate to the casingadjacent thereto, while the pivot-pin can be applied to the floor andthe socket in which it swings inserted into the lower rear corner of thedoor without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a spring-hinge, the combination, with a casingmortised in the door and comprising spaced outer and inner walls, of aframe disposed within said casing and fixed with respect to the door,said frame likewise including spaced inner and outer walls, a pintlepassing downwardly through said casing and stationary frame, a helicalspring in said frame surrounding said pintle, and springholders attachedto the respective ends of said spring and rotatable about said pintleand each having diametrically-disposed lugsassociated therewith, certainlugs of said two holders normally abutting against opposite edges of theouter casing-wall, while other of said lugs engage the inner wall of thestationary frame at opposite edges.

2. In a spring-hinge, the combination, with a casing open at both sidesand mortised in one corner of the door, said casing embodying an uprightouter or edge wall arcuate in horizontal section, of a frame disposedWithin said casing and fixedly attached to the floor or other fixedsupport, said frame embodying an outer member disposed parallel to thearcuate wall of said casing and an inner straight wall, and being alsoopen at the sides, an upright pintle passing through said casing andstationary frame, a helical spring in said frame extending about saidpintle,

and spring-holders respectively attached to opposite ends of the springand rotatable about said pintle, and each having diametrically-disposedlugs of different lengths associated therewith, the longer lugs of thetwo holders normally engaging the opposite edges of the arcuate outerwall of the casing, while the shorter lugs normally engage the innerWall of the frame at opposite edges thereof.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, EMIL BOMMER.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

